TraceParser Video Training Part II: Configuration, Collection and Importing
TraceParser - Collecting and Importing
This video will give you a step by step introduction to configuring Dynamics AX for tracing, collecting traces from both the TracingCockpit and Client Configuration Utility and importing these traces to the TraceParser database.
If you do not have TraceParser installed, make sure to review the first video on installing TraceParser at http://blogs.msdn.com/axperf/archive/2008/07/18/traceparser-video-training-part-i-installation.aspx
Video: Trace Parser Collection and Importing
Registry Keys
Registry Keys for Dynamics AX Client can be found under HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Dynamics\5.0\Configuration
Registry Keys for Dynamics AX Server can be found under
HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dynamics Server\5.0\01\Configuration
If there is more than one instance of Dynamics Server running, you will want to find the appropriate instance.
Under each of these, will want to find a key named Current and note the value of this key. This is your active configuration for the Client. You should find a corresponding subkey under Configuration which houses the registry keys for your current installation. TraceParser specific keys are labeled with the trace prefix. An explanation of each key and its meaning is below:
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traceallowclient |
Ignored for client, on server set to 0x1 to allow the client to turn on tracing |
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tracebuffersize |
Size in MB of buffer space allocated for ETW |
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traceeventsenabled |
A semicolon delimited list of event flags. These correspond to the trace events in the AX Client Configuration Utility |
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tracemaxbuffers |
Maximum number of buffers to use for ETW. If you are getting any dropped event errors, you will want to increase this. |
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tracemaxfilesize |
Maximum disk space usage in MB for the ETW tracefile. You will need to have enough free space to allocate a file of this size. |
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traceminbuffers |
Minimum amount of buffers to allocate for ETW. If you are getting any dropped event errors, you will want to increase this. |
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tracestart |
0x0 if tracing is currently stopped, or set to 0x1 when tracing is started |
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tracexppmethodcalldepth |
Depth of the call stack to collect when tracing |
Trace Events
Which events you specify will affect what information is collected when tracing. By default, if you install TraceParser using the client integration, it will automatically turn on most events necessary for tracing. If you would like to define your own events, here is an explanation.
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RPC round trips to server |
Remote Procedure Calls between Client and Server |
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X++ method calls |
Method calls within the X++ language |
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Function Calls |
X++ built in functions such as int2str |
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Number of nested calls |
Depth of the X++ call stack when collecting traces |
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SQL Statements |
Queries issues to the SQL Database |
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Bind variables |
Parameters specified for each of the SQL queries |
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Row fetch |
Number of rows returned by SQL |
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Row fetch summary |
Same as row fetch, and includes timing information |
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Connect and disconnect |
Connections and disconnections to SQL |
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Transactions: TTSBegin, TTSCommit, TTSAbort |
Transaction statistics, not necessary if X++ method tracing is enabled |
Using LOGMAN To Query Trace Providers
Open a command prompt and type "logman -ets query providers". This will show you a list of running providers. When AX Tracing is turned on, you should see an output similar to below:
C:\>logman -ets query providers
Session Id File
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MSDTC_TRACE_SESSION 2 C:\WINDOWS\system32\MSDtc\trace\dtctrace.log
AX_TRACE_client_{CE6D980E-3F17-490A-951F-ECE4BE57A597} 3 c:\log\AOS_AXPTRACEDC_2712_20080731194343_client.trc
AX_TRACE_AOS_{CD8AE17D-33CA-4C75-8DC9-79DCA90387E7} 4 c:\log\AOS_AXPTRACEDC_2712_20080731194343.trc
The command completed successfully.
Coming Soon - Part III
I will show you how to analyze the traces that we just collected. This might be a 2 part series that starts with the basics and then covers the more advanced topics.
Future series:
- Automation (using X++, C# and Batch Files)
- Case Studies using TraceParser to identify issues
